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In an effort to purge any meaning whatsoever and thus create a more consistent utopian bubble void of any and all significance, the city of Bloomington, Indiana has decided this past week to rename a couple of their more ‘controversial’ holidays. Columbus Day will henceforth be called ‘Fall Holiday’ and Good Friday will be known as ‘Spring Holiday’. According to the mayor, the purpose of said moniker modification is to “demonstrate our commitment to inclusivity” (excepting of course, those who celebrate Columbus Day or Good Friday).

Columbus Day is controversial because it celebrates the ‘discovery’ of the Americas by Europeans and its resultant history of colonialism, oppression, genocide, fast food, and baseball. Good Friday is controversial because it excludes others by commemorating the day Jesus was killed and, um…why is that exclusionary again? I guess because other people groups weren’t killed equally. I’m not sure.

So last week I waxed eloquent upon the upcoming presidential election, which is increasingly becoming a toss-up, as in “I’m about to toss-up my breakfast.” If you missed last week and wish to avoid being totally lost, you may peruse it here. Said post, as designed, sparked a short conversation with my first-time-voting progenic offspring regarding the purported leading and distressingly fingernails-on-a-chalkboard candidates seeking the aforementioned public office.

“All I know,” said Thing 2, “is that one wants to build a wall and the other really wants to be president,” which honestly sums up their campaigns rather nicely for someone who doesn’t pay attention and frankly didn’t see the need to care until we went to see Cabaret wherein the characters do little more than eat and drink and have sex willy-nilly until they end up in concentration camps. I do love a rollicking, feel-good musical. Continue reading →

I suppose it’s time. After many years of living with my secret, I am coming out with it. I know my friends and family will be shocked, and I’m sure my parents will be disappointed but I cannot hide it any longer. I just hope that those who truly love me will continue to accept me for who I am and not be too quick to judge, though I know that will not be the case for everyone. So here it is: I am Identity Fluid.

I wasn’t always sure growing up what was ‘wrong’ with me. It wasn’t until I saw in the news the likes of Elizabeth Warren, the potential vice presidential candidate who identifies herself as Native American when she isn’t really, or the likes of Rachel Dolezal, the Spokane NAACP chapter director who identifies herself as Black when she isn’t really, that it hit me. It doesn’t matter who I am; all that matters is how I identify myself. President Obama has decreed that this is reason enough to let me use any bathroom I choose. And it turns out that for me, my self-identity changes depending on my mood or circumstances. Thus, I am Identity Fluid. It’s a thing.

Don’t talk about religion, they say. Don’t talk about politics, they say. These are no-nos, taboos, conversation killers. Pssh. Whatever. What else is there to talk about? There’s no reason we can’t be honest with each other, is there? Especially on social media. I’m always converting my so-called friends to my complex political and religious views using 140 characters or less.

Last week I wrote a piece about religion and politics and it has turned out to be the most popular post to ever grace this webtronic page of haphazard electro-bemusement. So I got to conTIMplating… What other forbidden topics could I write about that people normally shy away from that would consequently send my readership through the roof? What else are we supposed to remain silent about that would get everybody talking? I came up with a few ideas…

It’s an on-going Easter-week tradition here at conTIMplating that I present the Easter story in various translative forms to do my best in helping contemporary peoples relate to the ancient and sometimes confusing biblical text. This year, noticing that a number of people are trading in their Easter bonnets and accompanying frills for a very spring-like red, Chinese-manufactured “Make America Great Again” baseball cap, I decided to reprint this year’s story from the New American Trump Version (NATV). My apologies for its length, but…you know, it’s not my fault. So grab yourself a traditional Easter passion-fruit and settle in to read this, the holiest of stories, from the very innumerate Gospel of The Donald… Continue reading →